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Spelling Ability Of The Fourth Year Students Of Teacher Education Of North Luzon Philippines State College
Novelyn T. Barcena
University Of Northern Philippines [email protected]
Maribel M. Gagto North Luzon Philippines State
College Lanie B. Tiu
North Luzon Philippines State College Abstract
This study seeks to find out the level of spelling ability of the Fourth Year Students in Teacher Education, School Year 2012-2013. It also sought the profile of the respondents such as age, sex, civil status, high school graduated; language mostly used at home, available resources at home and social network. It was found out that most of the respondents were at age 20; most of them were girls; more than half of them were not married; most of them graduated in public school; almost all of them used Iluko language; many of them had Facebook account as their social network and many of them had Iluko Bible as their available resources used at home.
Based on findings, the level of spelling ability of the students was Very Good; however they were poor in borrowed words. It was also find out that all the respondents’ profile had no significant relationship with their level of spelling ability. After analyzing the results, the following recommendations were drawn: the teaching of Iluko Orthography in their Special Topics (ST) subject was found to be effective; teachers should give importance on Iluko language as medium of instruction through simple usage in classroom situations; and the enhancement of this study is also recommended.
I. INTRODUCTION
he Executive Order No. 31 series of 2012 as released by the Department of Education states that beginning School Year 2012-2013, the government will be implementing Enhanced Basic Education Act or otherwise known as K to 12 Program. This refers to the mandatory or required kindergarten and the additional 2 years of the 10-year Basic Education Cycle. Before, after the six years in elementary and four years in high school, the students will be able to graduate. Under the K to 12 program, before entering college, students need to undergo additional two years after four years in high school. The objective of this program is to help the youth and become globally competitive not only in Asia but in the whole world as well.
One of the highlights of the said program is the Mother Tongue-Based Curriculum. Based
on the purpose of the Department of Education, the native dialect or regional language will be used as the medium of instruction in kindergarten and in first 3 years of elementary education instruction, teaching materials and assessment in order for them to learn fast.
It is important to have a strong foundation on the first language. The use of the first language should not deprive the learners especially on the first stage of education.
There should be an assurance of having equal opportunities in learning which is the main goal of education for an Education for All (EFA) 2015:
“All persons beyond school-age, who for various reasons failed to acquire the essential competence to be functionally literate, should formally be made functionally literate in their native language/tongue, in Filipino and in English.”
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The statement mentioned was supported by the Silvina Montrul (2010) when she says:“Around age 4, children’s metalinguistic ability develops through emergent literacy and continues at school were children learn to read and write. At the end of the process, children become educated, adult native speakers capable of functioning in different social and professional context.”
The Department of Education strongly believes that using the first year of education will be of great help for more effective and efficient learning of the learners.
The Mother-Tongue Based-Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) is one of the reforms being implemented by the Department of Education. This aims to have a precise and functional learning of the learners in any part of the Philippines. The MTB-MLE refers to the use of lingua franca as the medium of instruction during the first 3 years in elementary. A study on the use of lingua franca that was conducted in Lubiagan, Kalinga was proven to be effective because the result of the NEAT of the learners was high. So, the said new curriculum has been strongly supported by the department of education.
People from the Province of Ilocos Sur use Iluko as their lingua franca. One of the advantages in using the Iluko as a medium of instruction is to preserve the Ilocano culture- its customs, beliefs and traditions.
The Iluko language has been using in teaching, in reading but most especially in writing and speaking. Many Ilocanos are using the Iluko language in their speaking but difficult for them in the field of reading and writing. It is for this reason that students should acquire basic knowledge on spelling using the Ilocano Orthography as their armor in the fields of writing and reading.
I. METHODS
A descriptive method was being used to determine the spelling ability of the fourth year students of the Teacher Education of North Luzon Philippines State College, Candon City Ilocos Sur, School Year 2012- 2013. Simple Correlation Analysis was used
to determine the students’ profile in relation to their spelling ability.
The study was conducted at the Municipality of Candon City, Province of Ilocos Sur, Region I. A total of sixty one (61) fourth year students enrolled in Teacher Education Department were the subjects of the study.
A questionnaire made by the researchers and was validated by the experts in Iloco language was also used in this study.
It consisted of two parts: Part 1 was the respondent’s profile ( age, sex, civil status, high school graduated; language mostly used at home, available resources at home and social network) while part II was a proficiency test on Iloco spelling.
II. RESULTS
This section deals with the presentation, analysis and presentation of the data gathered to answer the problems raised in this investigation.
1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of the following factors:
a. age b. sex c. civil status
d. high school graduated
e. language mostly used at home
f. available resources at home
g. social network
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A. Age- it can be seen in the table thatmost of the respondents are aged 20 with a total of 40 or 65.6%, second to the most number of respondents are aged of 19; 2 or 3.3% belongs to age 21; and ages 22 and 26 has one respondents respectively. It only means that the students are expected to be at the fourth year college at the age of 20.
B. Sex- it can be clearly seen that females have more number of respondents with (46 .or 75.4%) than males with (15 or 24.6%). This shows that there are more females taking up Bachelor of Secondary Education and Bachelor in Elementary Education.
C. Civil Status- the table shows that a total of 53 or 86.9% of respondents are single and the remaining 8 or 13.1% are married. This means that students focus more on their study.
D. High School Graduated - the table clearly shows that most of the students graduated from public schools (49 or
80.32%) rather than those from private schools with (12 or 19.67%).
E. Age- it can be seen in the table that most of the respondents are aged 20 with a total of 40 or 65.6%, second to the most number of respondents are aged of 19; 2 or 3.3% belongs to age 21; and ages 22 and 26 has one respondents respectively. It only means that the students are expected to be at the fourth year college at the age of 20.
F. Sex- it can be clearly seen that females have more number of respondents with (46 .or 75.4%) than males with (15 or 24.6%). This shows that there are more females taking up Bachelor of Secondary Education and Bachelor in Elementary Education.
G. Civil Status- the table shows that a total of 53 or 86.9% of respondents are single and the remaining 8 or 13.1% are married. This means that students focus more on their study.
H. High School Graduated - the table clearly shows that most of the students graduated from public schools (49 or 80.32%) rather than those from private schools with (12 or 19.67%).
I. Language mostly used at home- it can be seen at the table that most of the respondents are speaking Iluko at home (53 or 86.9%) ; second to the most are speaking Filipino (7 or 11.5%) ; and only one or 1.6% is using English language. This means that the respondents are from Ilocos Sur, and it is expected of them to be using their native language.
J. Available resources at home- the table shows that most of the available resources at home are Iluko bible, next is pocketbook, bannawag, and liwayway.
K. Social Network- it is very evident that most of the respondents are using Facebook (49 or 80.3%) ; next are with those using E-mail (21 or 31.4%) third is YouTube (17 or 27.9%), fourth is Twitter (13 or 21.3%) and lastly are those using Tumbler or My Space (3 or 4.9%).
This means that using Facebook is the most popular and most used form of social network
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Table 1. Distribution of number, total, percentage of respondent’s profile
Personal Factor
f %
Age
19 17 27.9
20 40 65.6
21 2 3.3
22 1 1.6
26 1 1.6
TOTAL 61 100
Sex
female 46 75.4
male 15 24.6
TOTAL 61 100
Civil Status
Single 53 26.9
Married 8 13.1
TOTAL 61 100
High School Graduated
Private 12 19.67
public 49 80.32
TOTAL 61 100
Language mostly used at home
Iluko 53 86.9
Filipino 7 11.5
English 1 1.6
TOTAL 61 100
Available Resources at home
pocketbook 29 47.5
liwayway 11 18.0
bible 18 29.5
Iluko bible 36 59.0
TOTAL 94/4 154/4
Social Network
Facebook 49 80.3
twitter 13 21.3
tumbler 3 4.9
e-mail 21 34.4
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My space 3 4.9
YouTube 17 27.9
TOTAL 106/6 169/6
2. What is the level of spelling ability of the students in Iluko language?
Table 2. Level of Spelling Ability of the Students
Parts of a test
mea n
Standar d Deviatio
n
Descripti ve Rating
Iluko words
37.5 5
4.53 GOOD Borrowe
d words
4.95 2.66 FAIR TOTAL 42.1
5
5.52 GOOD
Table 2 shows the level of spelling ability of the students in Iloco words and borrowed words. Students got a mean of 37.55 on Iloco words, meaning they are good in this aspect. On the other hand, they got a rating of fair on borrowed words with a mean of 4.95. However, the overall mean of the two parts of the test is 42.15. It shows that even the students are good in Iloco words they are weak in borrowed words. This implies of the weak exposure of students in borrowed language because of the fact that new technologies like social network are using English and Filipino as their medium of communication.
3. Is there a significant relationship between the profile of the respondents with their level of spelling ability?
Table3. Significant Relationship of Students’
Profile with their level of spelling ability
Personal profile Interpretation
Age No Significant
Relationship
Sex No Significant
Relationship Civil Status No Significant
Relationship
High School
Graduated
No Significant Relationship Language mostly
used at home
No Significant Relationship Available resources
at home
No Significant Relationship Social Network No Significant
Relationship
Table 3 shows the significant relationship of students’ profile with their level of spelling ability. It is clearly seen that the entire variable of this study has no significant relationship with the spelling ability of the fourth year students of Teacher Education.
The result of this study is similar to the study conducted by Games, G. et al. (2005) only in that study age has a significant relationship.
III. DISCUSSION
The main objective of this study is to find out the level of spelling ability of the
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Fourth Year Students of Teacher Education Department of North Luzon Philippines State College, Second Semester of School Year 2012-2013. Total enumeration was used in getting the respondents. A descriptive method was used in determining the level of spelling ability of the students. To determine if the respondent’s profile such as age, sex, civil status, high school graduated, the language mostly used at home, available resources at home, and social networks have significantly relationship with their spelling ability, simple correlation analysis was used.The level of significance was set at 0.05 level.
The study found out that most of the students are aged 20 with a total of 40 (65.6%);
females have greater number than males;
more than half the number of respondents are single; most of the respondents graduated high school at public schools. Most of the respondents use Iluko as their language mostly used at home. Iluko Bible is the reading material commonly seen at home and more than half of the respondents have a Facebook account as their social network.
It was also find out that the level of spelling ability of the students is “GOOD”. This implies that students had acquired basic knowledge on Iluko Orthography. Another reason is that students have this Special Topic subject where Iluko Orthography is its main focus. This is also in response to the Department of Education’s program on Mother Tongue Based-Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) for the better learning and understanding of the students in elementary level (Level 1-3).
After analyzing the results, the following recommendations were drawn: the teaching of Iluko Orthography in their Special Topic subject was found to be effective, it is therefore recommended that said topic be strengthen more by the administration, more activities related to Iluko Orthography be given to the students for them to be more knowledgeable; that Iluko language be part of the Teacher Education curriculum; language teachers should also give importance to the Iluko language as their medium of instruction through simple usage in classroom situations
and enhancement of this study is also recommended
REFERENCES
Jones, S. (2009). The Importance of Spelling.
Retrieved February 14, 2013 http://www.spellingcity.com/importAnc e-of-spelling.html.
Sharp, A.C. (2012). The development of young children’s spelling ablity.
Retrieved February14, 2013 http://www.readinghorizons.com/comm unity/webinars/file. Commission on Filipino Language (Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino) Iluko Orthography.
Rulloda, L., et al., (2005) Level of Spelling Ability of the First Years Of UNP- Candon, SY. 2004-2005. University of Northern Philippines, Candon Campus, Candon City, Ilocos Sur.
Canega, Jomar I. First Language (L1) as Learning Medium in (L2) Ingles and Filipino: Its Importance of Youth’s Education. A paper read during the National Seminar on Filipino. Mariano Marcos State University. October 2931, 2012.
